Take My Hand - To The Moon
by fenikkusudamashi
Summary: "I just want to make people in this world happy, will you help me?" "I'm not sure, if I can do this..." "Come on, we'll do this together, just take my hand, I won't last one day alone!" I won't last a day alone either...
1. The Beginning of a Distant Memory

**(A/N: Hello reader! Welcome to my fan fiction of "To The Moon". I'm probably going to keep these Author's notes simple and at the beginning of chapters as to not ruin any mood that a chapter may have created. I'd also like to add that this first chapter will most likely be the shortest in the series so keep that in mind. Reviews would be well appreciated as I'll probably be needing more ways to improve. Please enjoy my first published work!)**

Take My Hand - Chapter I

To The Moon

A young girl wonders upon a boy in the rain. He was alone in the middle of a field, not even carrying an umbrella, sitting with his arms around his legs. She walks up to him slowly.

"Hey, why are you crying?"

She said softly.

"Huh?"

The boy spun around, to face her. He seemed surprised someone was talking to him.

"What's wrong?"

"Uh ... Nothing"

The girl sighed, 'liar', she thought.

"Hmm, I'm Eva. What's your name?"

"It's Neil."

"Nice to meet you, Neil ... Can you tell me why you're here all by yourself?"

"I-I ran away."

Neil turned away with shame.

"Huh ... What do you mean ran away?"

"I ran away from home."

"What!?"

Eva brought her umbrella over Neil.

"My parents had another fight. I hate it, when they fight ... Today, I just couldn't take it anymore and I ran away."

"Are you stupid?"

"What!? How can you call me stu-"

"Your parents, they're probably worried sick about you, you doofus!"

"No ... They don't care anymore ... and now ... I honestly don't care either!"

"What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I mean!"

"That doesn't make sense!"

"You don't make sense!"

Eva brought her umbrella back and began to shout at Neil.

"Urgh! You're such a kid!"

Neil looked carefully at Eva's short figure.

"You're one to talk!"

Putting a smug expression on her face, Eva replied.

"Well I wasn't the one who was crying!"

Swiftly, Neil pushed Eva into the wet ground. Her clothes became soiled with mud as she fell into a puddle.

"Why ... You!"

Quickly getting up she pushed Neil into the ground, not even letting him react.

"Oh, it's on now!"

He said as he rose. Eva then replied with her arms crossed.

"Hah! You're no match for me!"

The two began to brawl in the rain, all seriousness evaporating from the air as they began to laugh.

Eva sat up, trying to wipe her stained dress.

"Urgh, that's enough ... I'm drenched."

"Me too ..."

There was a short pause as the two looked at each other.

"Hahahaha!"

They both shouted as they realised just how soaked they were. Neil stood up giving out his hand.

"Here."

Giving him a curious look, Eva took his hand, he then pulled her up.

"Sorry I pushed you into the ground."

Eva smiled.

"It's okay."

They looked at each other, Neil's hand still firmly over Eva's. Feeling awkward Eva brought herself back but found that her hand was still within Neil's. He gestured a handshake and grinned.

"I'm Neil Watts!"

Eva took on a surprised expression, but calmly replied with an equally content grin.

"I'm Eva Rosalene."

Suddenly everything flashed red. The entire world broke into violent shades of colour. Everything became blindingly bright; everything seemed to break apart, the cracks in the ground only revealing more light. A woman's voice sounded.

"Eva! Where are you?

We're leaving now!"

"Oh, that's my mom."

Neil's smile faded.

"Are y-y-y-you."

Neil's voice looped as more red blotted out the sky.

"Are you leaving, E-E-Eva?"

"Yeah, I-I-I've got a go."

*Crack*

"Will w-w-we e-e-e-ever meet again?"

*Crack*

"I'm sure w-w-we wi-"

*Crack*

Eva's voice was cut off. The world seemingly imploded into darkness. It stayed that way for a while, until a constant beep could be heard. The beep sounded every second and pulsed just like a heartbeat.

A girl opened her eyes. Greeted with a familiar figure lying next to where she sat.

End Chapter I


	2. To The Moon

**(A/N: Apologies for such a late update, I'd like to say that I hadn't uploaded any time sooner because of the school term but seeing as though it has been _this _long, I'm not sure I can really say that ... Anyway, please enjoy.)**

Take My Hand – Chapter II

To The Moon

Neil clenched his fist as he felt his lungs tighten. The rain poured hard and he found it difficult to breath, he wasn't even able to speak. Eva called out to him.

"Sorry about earlier..."

Neil's head hurt, his surroundings lit up, he was losing control of himself too fast.

"I just need to..."

Reaching into his pocket he found nothing.

"Crap." He thought.

"Neil?"

Eva received no reply and turned around only to see a white blur slide from the cliff's edge. A voice sounded from the direction of the house.

"Dr. Rosalene, where is your colleague? He left-"

Without a word, Eva rushed towards the edge, having difficulty in getting her footing on the now muddy ground. At last making it, she looked over in dismay as a splash appeared in the water's surface. Her hand extended forward, as if she could still reach out. It was much too late.

The shock finally hit Eva's mind, much to close to the edge she attempted to take a step back.

"Wha-"

Eva lost her grip almost suddenly. The earth was already crumbling and the rain had made it worse. She slipped while hitting her head hard against the ground, not conscious long enough to feel that she was quickly falling.

_/\-_/\-_/\-_/\-_

Eva blinked rapidly as her eyes adjusted to the light of dawn. She felt strange, almost as if she had fallen or slipped, but that of course, was impossible.

"Must've been a dream." She thought while yawing.

Looking at her alarm clock beside her, she had been in bed for roughly eight hours.

"There's definitely been no falling for me."

A short melody sounded, triggering Eva to lazily drag arm across her bed and reach for her cell. Flipping it open she was greeted with a cheerful voice.

"Mornin'"

"Morning, Neil."

"We got a job today you know."

"Yes, I know."

"Begin preparations at five, we leave at six."

"..." Eva sighed shortly before responding.

"I'm glad you listened to what I told you yesterday."

"You told me this yesterday!?"

"Yeah, I told you shortly after the job briefing. Around ten seconds after to be exact."

"Job briefing?"

"Yes."

Eva rolled her eyes and lied herself back down.

"Just arrive here at six, alright?"

"Sure thing, cya then."

Eva swiftly threw on her coat, its unique design showing her status of senior memory traversal agent. Now picking up a large metallic case she headed for her apartment's door. Before she left she glanced briefly at her clock.

"5:51, right on time."

She opened the door and left.

Eva stood outside her apartment building slowly growing irritated. Checking the time on her phone she notices that it was already 6:18.

"Dammit Neil, where are you?"

Almost in response the sound of tires scraping over asphalt pierced her ears, followed by the loud beeping of horns from various cars. Listening more closely the sounds were coming from around the corner of her building.

"The jerk making all that noise should be here in 3, 2, 1-"

Suddenly a black car came swerving around, burning rubber as it came to a stop about two or three metres away from her.

"Wait, a company car? ... Neil ..."

One of the dark tinted windows rolled down.

"Let's go!"

"You're late ... Again."

"Don't worry my expert driving skills will get us there on time."

Someone from another car was currently shouting in the general direction off Neil. Eva sighed.

"The expert driving skills that are currently ticking off all the people behind you?"

"..."

Neil propped up his glasses and reached for the passenger door, opening it.

"Let's just get going."

Eva placed the case on the back seat and sat herself in front.

"All ready."

_/\-_/\-_/\-_/\-_

***BANG***

The two stepped out of the wrecked car.

"Where were you looking Neil?"

"Well _excuse _me for heroically evading that squirrel coming out of nowhere."

Looking over Eva spied a rather dead looking squirrel sitting behind the car.

"You ran over it anyways."

"Oh."

"You ran over it _and _hit a tree!"

"Look, don't worry it's a company car."

"Are you kidding me? The boss is going to kill us!"

"Hmm ... We'll just say I was saving a puppy ... He likes puppies, right?"

"He's more of a cat person."

"Why does the world have to be so complicated!? ... Fine, whatever fur ball he fancies. Crisis averted."

"Good, write that on your report."

Eva checks her phone once again.

"We should grab the equipment from the car and move already."

Moving up the path, the two notice something blocking their way.

"Who put this boulder here?"

"Maybe it's their security system?"

"Cucumbers ... We don't have time for this fluff. Let's try pushing it out of the way."

"Maybe we could jack it with a branch ... Wait ... We could just call it a night and blame it on that!"

"You do know that you won't be paid if we don't go through with it right?"

"Hmm, I _do_ need to go on an IKEA shopping spree soon."

Eva walked off.

"... A branch will do."

It didn't take long for her to find a reasonably sized stick.

"Alright, this better work..."

***POP!***

"... I don't even ..."

"What was that?"

"It's some kind of air ball ... Uh ... Let's get going for now."

"We'll ... Figure out that thing later."

"Riiight."

Again the two continued along the path, finally stopping as they reached the house.

"Not a bad place to retire at, huh?"

"I could do better."

Neil sighed.

"Night shifts, love em' or hate em'?"

Eva didn't even turn around to respond.

"You know the answer you stupid owl."

"It's probably gonna be another all nighter y'know."

"I know."

"And I doubt they'd have any coffee..."

'Neil, you're such an ass' Thought Eva.

"Shut up."

"The ocean waves will sing lullabies..."

"Not through your blathering, they won't."

"And your eyelids will-"

The door opened and Eva quickly disappeared through it, Neil followed sluggishly.

"Don't forget the equipment you moron."

Eva heard quiet muttering behind her, something about not being paid enough it seemed. 'Whatever' she thought, she didn't exactly care.

As she entered she was greeted by a young looking woman.

"Dr. Rosalene and Dr. Watts, I presume? "

The two nodded.

"I'm Lily. Thank you for coming on such short notice."

Neil stepped forward.

"That's okay. I tend to be bad at predicting deaths as well."

Lily showed no change in expression. Eva rolled her eyes. 'Neil, you really are such an ass.' She stepped forward herself.

"Are you the patient's daughter?"

"Oh no, I'm just his care taker."

Two children suddenly ran past them and flew into another room.

"And those are my kids, Sarah and Tommy... It's not exactly a nine to five job, so Johnny lets us live here."

"I suppose this Johnny is our man?"

"... 'Johnny'?"

"... Listen if it's a kid we're dealing with, I don't think we're the ones you want."

"No, no. He just prefers to be called that."

Lily walked up to the stairs, gesturing for the to follow.

"I'll show you to him."

Eva turned around before following.

"C'mon, grab that case so we can go."

"When my back breaks one day ... I'll sue you with insurance claims."

Eva didn't quite hear what Neil had said; it seemed she was too preoccupied in not caring, yet again. Stopping at the top of the stairs, blocking Neil's path, Eva took a second to listen to the piano that the children were playing.

"Hey, those kids are pretty good for their age."

"You're the one who told me we had no time to waste and incidentally, I'm the one who is carrying the weight of a small meteoroid."

"Yeah, yeah. Alright."

The two proceeded into a large bedroom, where a man was lying in bed; he was surrounded by medical looking equipment which was currently being monitored by another man who appeared to be a doctor. Lily directed them in.

"Ready to set up?"

"Yes, it'll be just a moment."

A worried look sprung upon Lily's face as Eva began connecting thick cables to the wall sockets.

"Are you sure a common household power outlet is sufficient?"

"No worries, we're the experts!"

Neil watched as Eva flicked the switch, suddenly all the lights in the house dimmed down to a slight glow.

"... Oh crap!"

"..."

With a little flickering the lights came back to their original radiance. Neil scratched his head.

"Standard procedures! ... Just keeping you on you toes!"

Holographic panels folded out of the machine and lit up.

"How's the patient doing?"

The man standing next to 'Johnny' turned around.

"Not so well. If I were to say, he's got just a day or two left."

"That's plenty of time."

"... So you two can grant him any wish, huh?"

"To try, at least."

"Don't worry, we always succeed because we're awesome."

"So yeah, what was the wish?"  
"The moon."

"The moon?"

"The moon ... He wants to go to the moon."

"..."

"The geezers just keep on getting crazier, huh?"

'Shut up, Neil.'

"So can you do it?"

"It depends..."

"She meant to say yes."

"Could you tell us anything about your client here?"

"... I don't really know much."

"Johnny is an odd man. Through the two years I've worked here, he rarely spoke. He worked as a craftsman for most of his life and his wife passed away two years ago... I don't really know many details."

Neil leaned back into his chair.

"I would've known more if I was his paperboy for Pete's sake!"

Eva held her finger up to her mouth.

"Shush, just do your thing."

"Well I suppose if you look around the house, you may be able to find more info ... I suppose Johnny wouldn't mind, since he signed for you two."

"Mm ... So be it."

The two turned to each other.

"Okay, which one of us plays detective? ... Actually ... I think I'll stay here, I'm busy leaving my butt-print on this chair."

-There's nothing here-

Eva sighed.

"Do continue."

"Sarah and Tommy can show you around."

-Yeah, we should go.-

"Alright-"

***POP***

A white bubble appeared around the equipment's case for a split second. The room flashed white but nobody had noticed. Then everyone had frozen, as if time had stopped moving.

_/\-_/\-_/\-_/\-_

End Chapter II


	3. Clarise

**(A/N: Exams are finished and the school term is about to end. I apologise for not being able to upload this chapter any sooner. I'm actually uploading this from school, so if there are many mistakes, I'll be sure to fix them when I get home. For the mean time, please enjoy my story.)**

Take My Hand - Chapter 3  
To The Moon

*Ring, Ring*

Eva found herself smacking something off her bedside table.

"Wha-"

Her vision was a little fuzzy but her room somehow seemed a little quieter. She rubbed her eyes and tried looking down at the floor.

"Oh shoot."

A small defenceless alarm clock sat dented on her floor. Prodding it with her finger she noticed that it was most definitely out of operation.

"Dammit... I'll have to buy another."

She moved her hand across her bed sheet and pulled out her phone. She flicked it open; the time was 7:04 AM. Her eyes shut and she felt like she was drifting back to sleep.

*RIIIIIIIINNNNNNGGG!*

Eva almost fell out of her bed as her phone started ringing. She pushed answer to shut off the madness.

"Hello?"

"Hey."

"What do you want?"

"We've got a job today you know."

"Yes, I know."

"Uh ... You should get ready at five, we're leaving at six."

"This isn't a date you know ... Also; didn't I tell you this like a day ago?"

"You told me this already?"

"Yes, Neil."

"Alright then ... Just keep your phone on in case I need to call you."

"Sure thing ... Bye."

"Bye."

Eva shut her eyes again.

"Ack ... I'm so tired ..."

She dropped down and relaxed on her bed again, bringing her sheets back over herself. Just barely opening her eye she took a peek at her phone.

"Just half an hour more."

...

Eva felt something move next to her arm.

"#%^*!"

She did in fact fall off of her bed this time.

"What in the-"

A small buzz could be heard as a blue light glowed under the blankets. She reached under and grabbed her phone.

***5 unread messages!*  
**  
"Oh ..."

Moving down the menu she opened a second tab.

***7 Missed Calls from Dr. Neil Watts*  
**  
"... Sh-"

She quickly opened the first message.

***Eva, the patient's condition has been fluctuating and we are to leave immediately, please get ready.***

*Eva I'm on my way now, are you ready?*

*I'm outside now, where are you?*

*Why aren't you picking up?*

*EVA! What are you doing? Open the door, we have to leave NOW! :(*

Eva threw her coat over the clothes she was wearing and ran through her apartment door, dragging along the heavy equipment case. She left the door unlocked and opened, not caring if someone were to enter. Running through the corridor she was able to see a figure with his arms over the building's steel door.

"Eva? What were you doing?!"

Eva opened the door and stepped outside.

"..."

The two stood in an awkward silence.

"..."

Neil rubbed the back of his head.

"Let's go..."

He gestured to a car that was parked in the middle of the road. He then walked towards it taking the equipment from Eva's hands. She followed slowly and entered the car.

"Hey."

"..."

"Why weren't you picking up?"

"..."

"... Are you okay?"

"Yeah ... Just tired..."

Neil almost missed a turn.

"Wait... Is _that _why you weren't picking up?"

Eva didn't respond.

"C'mon, this is one of our first jobs... We need to perform well to secure our positions and currently the patient is in an unstable state... Boss will kill us if we are unable to carry out our job."

"I understand."

"..."

"Sorry."

"..."

"Neil?"

"... Don't worry about it; I'll make sure we're there on time."

"Okay."

_/\-_/\-_/\-_/\-_

Eva's eyes shot open as she heard the familiar ringing of a phone.

"Hello, this is Dr. Watts speaking."

Eva could only hear inaudible muttering.

"We'll be arriving shortly sir."

Neil slipped the phone back into his pocket. Eva felt the car turn. The crunching of gravel sounded.

"Are you awake?"

Eva rubbed her eyes.

"Yeah."

The car came to a stop in front an old looking house surrounded by trees and a lush garden. The land it stood in was secluded and quiet. No other homes could be seen before the horizon.

"Let's go."

Eva stepped out and began to follow Neil towards the house.

"It's pretty quiet out here, huh."

"Yeah."

Eva brought her arm up to the door and knocked gently. She was greeted with a short elderly man.

"Good afternoon, young lady. I assume you're from the..."

"Yes, I'm Dr. Rosalene."

"I am Dr. Watts. We will be taking care of the patient today; you are Mr. Roland, correct?"

The man nodded and gestured them to come inside.

"But do call me Walter."

He was fairly short and had light grey hair; he had a rather frail body and seemed to rely heavily on his walking stick. He kept a forced smile on his face as he spoke the next few words.

"Her name is Clarise ... My wife that is. She's in the room to the right of the stairs on the second floor. Would you two like anything before you begin?"

"No thank you, Walter."

"Alright, you two should go up, I'll follow soon. After all I wouldn't want to slow you down."

Neil began to lug the heavy case up the stairs. Eva followed slowly, the wooden floor creaking under every step. A large group of paintings adorned the walls, as well as a long line of photographs.

"Actually... Walter, could you please tell me something. It's rather important."

"Certainly."

"What was her wish? We can't exactly begin without it."

"Oh yes... She wished that her sister came back."

"What do you mean?"

"She wishes her sister was still alive."

"Oh..."

Eva began inspecting the photos, each one seeming to go farther back in time. One photo in particular shows two young girls boarding a train.

"I see ... Could you tell me about her?"

"Her name was Claire. She was Clarise's younger sister. She would have been sixty one by now, but fifty years ago she was involved in a train accident."

"That's most unfortunate."

"Clarise never took an eye off of her, she was very protective and the two actually looked quite a bit like each other. Same golden hair and blue eyes."

Eva looked at rest of the photos pinned to the walls; she could see two cute girls in almost every one.

"Is that them?"

"Yes."

Eva continued walking along the room; she soon noticed a few pretty yellow flowers sitting on a table. Walter seemed to notice what she was looking at.

"I got those for Clarise."

He took a seat at the table and picked up one of the flowers.

"These flowers are her favourite; we used to pick them together in the fields outside the house. She said they remind her of Claire."

"I can imagine why, these flow-"

_"EVA_! Get over here now."

Eva heard Neil's voice bounce around the house.

"I think your colleague needs you."

"Yeah, I'd better hurry. Uh ... Thank you for your time Walter."

Eva ran up the stairs and was led into a room by Neil. It was large and full of old wooden furniture. In the centre of the room stood a bed, where an elderly woman laid. Beside the bed was a small mass of medical equipment and what appeared to be a doctor crouched in front of them. She then stood up and turned towards Eva.

"I'm Dr. Margaret, pleased to meet you."

The woman seemed to be in her late twenties and sported long black hair. She was undoubtedly beautiful even though she wore glasses. Neil stepped forward.

"I'm Dr. Rosalene."

Margaret nodded.

"It is good that you two were able to make it here earlier, as you may have known already, Clarise's condition has been fluctuating lately. A few days ago we thought we would even lose her, but luckily she's held on up until now. You two should probably get started."

Neil walked back to the other side of the room and flicked a few switches on the machine. A few luminescent panels folded outwards. Neil then picked up a strange looking helmet.

"Dr. Margaret, we will have to establish a link now, this helmet will allow us to do so."

"Carry on then."

Margaret nodded and Neil gently placed the device over Clarise's head. He then brought a seat next to the machine and chucked a helmet towards Eva.

"Eva here's yours."

"Whoa! Way to toss thousands of dollars worth of equipment around."

"It's fine, as long as you catch it."

"Yeah, yeah."

Eva sat down and placed the helmet over her head.

"Ready when you are."

"Ready, let's go."

_/\-_/\-_/\-_/\-_

The world slowly unfolded, plates of light came together, merging to create the landscape.

"Where are we Eva?"

"Just outside the house."

"Wait no, I mean, _when_are we?"

Eva took a brief look at her surroundings, she spotted a newspaper lying in the grass in front of her.

"Lucky us."

She picked up the paper and checked the date.

"This memory is recent, only a few days ago."

"Hah, that's funny actually; I was reading this paper earlier."

"Neil, you only ever pick up the newspaper for those cartoons in the very back."

"Hey, I get them for the cross words too."

The creaking of a door sounded behind them.

"Wha-"

"You can keep that newspaper if you like, I'm sure my husband won't mind."

A short lady with white hair stood by the doorway. She seemed just as frail as Walter but didn't seem to need a walking stick, she wore a peaceful smile on her face.

"Clarise?"

"Uh, how did you-"

"We are from the Sigismund Corporation."

"Strange that, I... Haven't... Even called... Them up yet..."

"I am Dr. Rosalene and this is Dr. Watts. Sometime in the future you call for us at the corporation. We have come now to grant your wish."

"You have come... To grant my wish? But doesn't that mean I'm-"

"Please, do not worry; we will take good care of you. We have been told that you wish your sister was alive, correct?"

Clarise walked a little closer to the two.

"... Yes."

"Okay, in order for us to make this happen, we are required to enter your memories and alter in events that will bring your sister to you."

"You will be going through my memories?"

"Yes, it is the only way."

"We are asking for your permission to do so, is this okay?"

"... Yes, if you can bring my sister back."

"We always succeed."

"Thank you."

Eva and Neil began to walk towards the house.

"Wait, stop."

"Yes?"

"Doesn't all this mean... I'm dying?"

'Eva... Should I tell her?'

'Neil, you can tell her the truth... She is just a program.'

'But it just seems wrong.'

'Don't worry, I'll do it then.'

Eva turned around, to face Clarise.

"I'm afraid, yes ... It does. While I'm not entirely sure, what one should say in this situation, do not worry. We have never failed."

'*Freeze all programs and simulations*'

The Earth suddenly felt still, all ambient noise had shut off. The world felt dead.

"Neil, we should hurry and find the memory links."

Eva turned in the direction she expected Neil to be at.

"Neil?"

Eva heard a faint murmur from inside the house.

"What?"

"I said, I've already found two! Come inside now, help me find the memento."

Eva walked in and looked around the house, exploring the living room. She quickly spotted the yellow flowers sitting on the table.

"This has to be one..."

**_*Pop*  
_**  
"Yep."

She walks around a little more and spotted the picture of Clarise and Claire. She picked the frame from the wall.

**_*Pop*_**

"Should've expected that..."

Eva placed the frame back on the wall.

"Eva! Found another one!"

"Huh? Where?"

"It was in the bathroom!"

"Why would you even?!-"

Eva sighed at the thought.

"I really have no idea what goes on in your thought process.

Eva went to the second floor and approached the room she found Clarise in.

"Psst, Eva. Come look at this."

"What is it?"

Eva walked across the corridor, trying to follow Neil's voice.

"Over here."

Eva took a right turn and saw Neil standing by a door.

"It says Claire on it."

"Claire..."

"Claire was the name of Sister right, Eva?"

"Yeah... Open the door."

Inside, the walls were covered with a bright shade of yellow and the room itself was covered with decor and photos. A small red train sat on one of the shelves.

"Looks just like a girl's room."

"That's exactly what it is Neil."

"Well yeah."

"Walter told me that Claire died around fifty years ago, in some sort of train accident."

"Go on..."

"Look at that train."

Neil sighed.

"Your sister died in a train accident, go and buy her a nice small train why don't you?"

Eva stepped inside the room, the air was stale but cool. She continued on and reached the shelf she had her eyes on. She picked up the small train.  
**_  
*Pop*_**

"The memento..."

A clear bubble surrounded it.

"Alrigt then, seeing as though I got the most memory links, I'll break it this time."

"Alright, here."

**_*Crack*_**

*Crack*

*Crack*

*Crack*

**"FUS RO DAH!"**

**_*POP!*_**

"What the hell was that Neil!?"

"It was my Thu'um!"

"Oh, please..."

Eva engaged the memento.

_/\-_/\-_/\-_/\-_

Snow crunched under Neil's feet as he tried contain his excitement. A wonderful shade of white covered nearly everything in sight.

"How come we never get snow like this back in he city?"

He brought his hands down to feel the perfectly formed, crystallized water particles.

"I think it has something to do with all the pollution from the cars and stuff. Though the snow in an area like this would normally fall much slower, the end result is almost always much better. Hey! Don't-"

Eva fell backward onto the ground as a well made snow ball landed directly into her face. The sound the impact made, would have had any bystander's face cringe. Neil burst into a fit of laughter.

"Argh! What the crap!?"

"Haha, don't worry, you can't get hurt within the machi-"

Neil made a very satisfying yelp as he fell back and landed in the snow. The impact of Eva's laser death ball was reassuring, producing a very nice sound. Neil was dazed as he tried to pick himself up.

"Okay, okay, okay. Snow balls at point blank range aren't a very good idea."

"Get up."

Eva let out her hand.

"There isn't too much time left..."

She pulled Neil up.

"Let's grab the memory links."

"Into the house, I guess..."

The two made their way closer to the house. The door was wide open and a small train laid half buried in the snow. It sat next to a pair of tracks into the snow.

"This memory seems to extend behind farther..."

Eva made her way around the side of the house. There was a long trail leading into dense woodland. The two sets of foot prints running down the entire length.

"We should probably check this out instead."

Eva stepped forward and snapped a twig which had been concealed within the snow.

**_*Pop*  
_**  
"_Sweet_."

"Well, we're headed in the right direction."

They continued to follow the trail into the woodland.

"What the hell were they doing all the way out here?"

Turning around Eva saw that the house was only a mere spot in the landscape.

"No clue."

"Leisurely stroll?"

"If they wanted to get sick and bedridden."

"That's nice."

"Meh ... Lets just find out where this trail leads."

The track continued on for another fifty meters, there they found two figures standing in the distance. As they moved closer, they could hear the two people talking, but not only that, the sound of flowing water also reached their ears.

"Clarise ... Why did you come all the way out here?"

Eva crept in closer, peering behind Clarise and Walter she was able to get a better view of what she had heard earlier.

"A river?"

A large stream sat at the bottom of a small slope.

"Clarise..."

"..."

"Clarise?"

"I just came ... To get this."

Eva turned back towards Clarise, she held in her hands, a yellow flower.

**_*Pop*_**

'2nd memory link, Neil.'

'I assume this is going to be a recurring thing.'

"Clarise ... You can't keep coming out here like this. It's far too cold."

She steeped back.

"But ... I ..."

"We're getting old Clarise, we have start taking care of ourselves."

"I ...-"

Eva and Neil watched as the incident occurred.

"CLARISE!"

Walter attempted to leap forward but cringed as he felt a pain in his left leg. He bent down on his knees as he watched Clarise plunged into the river.

"S%^*!"

Walter stood up and began his chase along the stream but at his current age he knew he wouldn't be able to go for long.

"Clarise."

Tears began to well up in Walter's eyes; the pain in his leg was too much to bear.

"Walter..."

He opened his eyes, Clarise held tightly on a branch at the side of the river. Using his remaining strength, he carried on forward.

"Hold on!"

Walter was only five meters away, when his foot landed on moss-covered rock. His body flew forward into the snow.

"Walter..."

He brought his face up, fighting all the pain he felt in his ageing body. Managing to crawl the distance he threw his hand out to grab Clarise and in a matter of minutes he had taken her out of the water.

"I'm not sure what to say about that Eva."

"Same here."

The two walked up to Clarise and Walter.

'She'll get very sick if she stays outside much longer.'

'I think that's what happened.'

Walter stood up and did his best to pick up Clarise. Slowly they started to walk back into the direction of the house.

**_*P-p-pop*_**

"What a cop-out, we just got all the memory links."

"Because that's what you say when something serious happens."

"What could we have done? Anything we do here will be erased as soon as we leave, our orders are different."

"Meh, you're right..."

Neil sighed.

"Let's just get the memento, we've seen enough here."

Eva pointed to something behind Neil.

"You think it would be that, over there?"

Neil turned around, a brown walking stick laid still on the snow's surface.

**_*Pop*  
_**  
"That was the pinnacle of difficulty."

"Just go and place the memory links already."

"Heh, sure."

**_*Crack*_**

*Crack*

*Crack*

*Crack*

**"IMMA FIRIN' MAH LAZER BAH!"  
**  
"Oh dear god..."

**_*Pop!*  
_**

End Chapter III


	4. Wedding By a River

Take My Hand – Chapter IV

To The Moon

_/\-_/\-_/\-_/\-_

"We sure have taken quite a leap."

"Yeah, was there really nothing of significance between then and your wedding?"

"Though, I gotta admit this is one of the nicer weddings I've seen in a while, but I kinda disagree with all this yellow."

"Yellow themed wedding... So what?"

Eva scanned the area; the whole place was pretty much yellow and white. The decorations, the tables, the flowers, the dresses, the carpets...

"... Even some of the food?"

Neil walked forward a little bit.

"Well I guess it's to be expected."

Eva nodded.

"This after all is something so many people look forward to, naturally they'd want it to be exactly the way they want it, even if that means-"

"Dyeing the entire place your favourite colour?"

"Yeah... But someday, even I..."

Eva had mumbled something inaudible while looking towards the ground.

"What was that?"

Her head picked up quickly in response.

"Nothing... Uh, why don't we try to find out some more about our lucky bride and groom eh?"

"Yeah sure."

The morning sun shone across river side wedding, illuminating the bright yellow decor. The long white table covers were dancing softly as the warm but relaxing breeze moved past. The wedding was of true grandeur.

In total there were eleven tables, ten round, supposedly for each family and a significantly larger one for the bride and groom's family. Neil stopped shortly before reaching the closest one.

'Enabling visibility-'

"Wait!"

Neil turned to Eva in confusion.

"What?"

"Wouldn't it be weird for two people wearing coats like ours to suddenly pop out into existence right in front of your face?"

"Uh... No."

"Seriously?"

"It doesn't matter Eva, these people here are all just programs in Clarise's memories. They're not really real."

Eva let out a sigh.

"... That's true."

'Enabling visibility.'

Neil approached the people casually as if he were one of the guests.

"How are we this fine evening?"

He had suddenly changed his accent into that of a classy wealthy man. Eva's jaw almost dropped at the ridiculously exaggerated tone of his voice.

'What the hell!?'

One of the people sitting at the table turned towards Neil.

"Quite well, how-who are you?"

"Oh, I'm just the groundskeeper."

"Groundskeeper? You look more like some kinda scientist to me."

"Oh... Uh... Well I'm not exactly a groundskeeper per say. I'm the one in charge of the trees here and other wildlife."

"Riiight... Can I help you with something then?"

"Yes actually, I just wanted to know a little more about our lucky bride and groom. Walter and Clarise was it?"

"How do you know their names? Who are you exactly? Are you one of their friends or acquaintances or something?"

"No, I'm just cur-"

"Just what? I don't trust-"

'Neil this guy isn't going to-'

'Reset.'

Neil put on a fake smile as he looked at the man in front of him in the eyes.

"Who are-"

"It's me! John!"

"John? You mean Walter's brother?"

"Yeah..."

The man quickly peered at the bride and groom's table, appearing to be searching for someone in particular. The stop of the frantic moving of his head indicated that he had found what he was looking for.

"John is over there."

He said this as the pointed his finger towards the table.

"I don't know what you are trying to d-"

'Reset.'

Neil straightened himself up and plastered another forced smile to his face. The man looked at him strangely, unaware of the events that had just occurred.

"Who are-"

"It's me, Ronald!"

"Don't know any one by the name of Ronald, I think you've got the wrong person."

"No, no. I think I most certainly have the right person! You know me... Uh ... Man."

Neil put his arm over the man's shoulder as if they were good friends. He didn't take this quite well though as the man quickly shoved Neil back.

"Nope, now I think you've gotta go."

Neil stumbled backwards.

'... Reset.'

'Maybe you should try somebody else Neil, we're wasting time with this guy.'

'I've got this, don't worry.'

"Hey man, it's me, Charles!"

"Charles? I don't remember anyone by the name of Charles."

"Oh well... Uh... Then could you tell me your name at least?"

"No, why should I tell you? Are you even a part of this wedding?"

'... ... Reset.'

Neil cleared his throat as he prepared for his next attempt.

"Hey."

"Hello."

"I'm looking for somebody."

"Who? What's the person's name?"

"I don't know."

"Well then how are you supposed to find that person?"

"Well, you could tell me your name. That might help."

"How is that going to help?"

"Just tell me."

"No!"

"Just tell me your name!"

The man let out a deep sigh.

"... It's Frank. Now will you just leav-"

"Ah! You're just the person I was looking for!"

"What!? How did that even-"

'Reset.'

'Hey, don't you think we're wasting time here?'

'Well if you are just standing there...'

Eva rolled her eyes before making her way to the rest of the guests.

"Hey Frank!"

"Who are you?"

"Don't you remember me? It's me, Kevin!"

Eva had reached the centre of the wedding ceremony. It was a decently sized dance floor, which seemed to be made out of movable wooden panels.

"Let's just find the memory links and get this over with."

A glass vase of pretty yellow flowers sat on each table, the largest bundle however sat on the table of the bride and groom. Eva walked over casually ignoring her surroundings and poked the flowers a few times.

_***Pop***_

"Too easy."

Eva turned back around to the guests and placed her back against the table. She was then startled a bit by the voice that sounded behind her.

"Um... Excuse me miss? Who are you? Why did you poke the flowers like that?"

"Huh?"

Eva spun around and was greeted by the pretty face of a blonde haired girl. Her voice was kind and gentle. Originally Eva intended to ignore Clarise but

"It couldn't hurt if I try to find out just a little more about her life."

'Reset.'

Neil's voice could be heard clearly in her mind.

"What?"

She said, shocked almost.

'Neil? Are you still seriously at it?'

'Yes but I'm almost through!'

'Almost through to what! You're not even sure this guy knows anything!'

'Yes but-'

"Erm... Excuse me..."

Eva's attention was caught back to the girl before her. It was undoubtedly Clarise.

"Oh... Um."

"I don't mind if you're not a guest, you can stay here if you want."

"Oh... Yes, I'd like that."

"Why did you come here?"

Clarise had an incredibly laid-back attitude. She seemed to be entirely oblivious to the fact that a complete stranger had come to her wedding.

"I'm looking for something, well, things rather."

Clarise put on a smile as if she was genuinely excited.

"Like treasure?"

The way that she acted seemed almost childlike.

"I guess you could say that."

"Can I help you then?"

"What!?"

"I asked if I could help you."

"Uh, sure..."

She got up and slowly pushed her chair under the table. Standing up straight now, Eva could clearly see Clarise's entire figure. She was appeared to be a frail girl that had didn't have too great an athletic ability.

"Clarise, where are you going?"

There was a young man sitting in a chair nearby Clarise.'

"I'm going to help someone look for treasure."

"What?"

He walked over as fast as he could and held Clarise by her hands. His pace was considerably slow however, due to his apparent need of a walking stick.

'Walter.'

"What do you mean? Who are you going with?"

She pointed at Eva in response.

"This girl here. She's a friend of mine. We're going to look for treasure together."

Walter looked at Eva confused.

"Oh- Okay... Be careful though."

"I will."

Clarise walked around the table and stood beside Eva. Closer now, Eva could fully appreciate the beauty of Clarise's wedding gown. The dress almost seemed to sparkle in the sunlight, especially with the combination of her gleaming jewellery.

One piece in particular caught Eva's eye quite well. It was a brilliant short, silver necklace that had nine cerulean gems placed within it.

'Wow.'

'Reset!'

'...'

"I'm Clarise."

Eva was now looking her in the eyes.

"I'm... Eva..."

"Pleased to meet you."

She hastily faced the other way.

'You're still at it Neil?'

'You betcha!'

'Have you learnt anything?'

'Not yet, but luckily for me, Google gives me access to a huge list of common names!'

'What? Seriously?'

'Yeah!'

'No! I meant why are you-'

"So what are we looking for?"

'Eva?'

Clarise tilted her head to one side and held her hands behind her back as she waited for a reply.

'I'm busy now...'

'...'

"Could you find me some things around here which are important to you? Things like that are the type of treasures I'm looking for."

"Sure."

Clarise almost instantly directed Eva towards the flowers.

"These are important to me."

"What else is there?"

Clarise moved away from the table slowly and got up on her toes to look around the ceremony.

"Here."

She began to move towards a table containing many of the guest's gifts. Upon reaching it however, she instead picked up a photograph which had been sitting on the same table. Clarise then showed the picture to Eva.

"Claire... My sister."

Eva poked the photo gently.

_***Pop***_

'There's the second one.'

'You've gotten the second memory link already?'

'Yep, Clarise is helping me.'

'What!?'

"Was that it?"

"Yeah... Could you show me anything else?"

Clarise placed the photo back down onto the table with extreme care.

"Okay."

She stopped not long after beginning walk again.

"Of course."

"What is it?"

Clarise turned around and laid her hands on the gems sitting across her neck.

"This necklace was a gift from my parents."

"Then may I?"

Clarise seemed a little hesitant.

'I think I found the memento.'

'Did you, now?'

'Yeah, but it's currently sitting around Clarise's neck.'

Clarise took a step backwards.

'Hmm...'

'I don't think she's going to give it up though.'

"Uh... No, I can't..."

She placed both her hands tightly over the necklace, holding it dear.

"Okay, I understand."

"Alright..."

Clarise seemed a little more relaxed.

'Well tell me when you get it then.'

_***Pop***_

'Huh? ... Neil, did you just get a memory link?'

'Yup! See? The things I do pay off.'

'Wasn't expecting that.'

'Heh, well you should expect the unex-'

'No thanks.'

'...'

"Let's move on then?"

Clarise seemed to be reverted back to her usual state as she signalled Eva to follow her.

"Right behind you."

Eva was led down to large tables covered in food. There were a basket of yellow cupcakes sitting in the middle.

"I baked those."

The cupcakes had little animal shaped decorations on them.

"I see."

Eva reached out and grabbed one of them. Slowly she took a bite.

_***Pop***_

"Sweet."

Clarise smiled.

"You like it?"

"Yes."

'Found the fourth one Neil.'

'Okay, that's good. I'm on my way... Where are you?'

'By the food tables.'

'Kay.'

"Can we wait here for a bit Clarise? I'm waiting for a friend."

"Alright... Sure."

"Clarise? Clarise!?"

Clarise turned to the direction from which the voice came.

"Walter?"

Walter made his way to Clarise and Eva.

"Clarise, it's time for the bouquet toss."

"The bouquet toss?"

"Yes..."

"Alright."

Walter turned to Eva.

"Uh... Erm... You can come too if you want."

"Um... Sure."

"Let's get going then."

_/\-_/\-_/\-_/\-_

The three of them made their way to the dance floor.

'Huh? Eva where are you?'

'Dance floor...'

'What are you doing over there?'

'Bouquet toss.'

"Okay single ladies! Now begins the bouquet toss! The person who catches it will be the next one who gets married! Good luck girls!"

A middle aged woman stood beside Clarise, apparently arranging the wedding events.

"Eva? Your name is Eva, right?"

"Yes."

Walter pointed towards the group of young women gathered in the centre of the dance floor.

"Alright, I guess you already know how the toss works. Just stand over there with the rest of the girls. Clarise will be right here as soon as everyone is ready."

"Okay."

Eva made her way down to the group.

'I wonder where I should go... Maybe at the back? It's not too crowded there... Actually, I don't think Clarise will be able to throw that far... I'll never be able to make it to the middle... Wait... Am I actually trying to win this thing?'

'I can hear your thoughts you know.'

'... Right...'

'That is how we are communicating.'

'Yeah, well whatever.'

Eva stood at the very front of the group and felt a little out of place. A little girl was there to confirm it.

"Hey! You can't stand there!"

"What!?"

She turned around and noticed a small girl that was about half her height.

"You can't stand here! I had this place first!"

"I can stand here; there aren't any rules to the Bouquet toss!"

An older girl probably the sister, broke into the fuss.

"Hey, just find a different spot... She's a little girl."

"What?"

"Let her have this spot, she was here first as well ."

'Hmph...'

'There's always reset you know.'

'Whatever Neil... Where are you anyway?'

'I don't know... Maybe five or ten metres away from you.'

'Here to watch me win?'

'Yes, but I do remember someone telling me that I should quit wasting time and move on. The name of that person escapes me.'

Finding no way to scramble her way inside of the group, Eva simply stood outside it.

'Whatever...'

"Okay! Looks like you're all ready down there!"

'Sounds fun.'

'Yay...'

'No need to be so enthusiastic Eva.'

The woman from earlier stood up once again, this time she brought Clarise beside her.

"Clarise, when you're ready."

Clarise nodded after taking a brief look at her guests. Facing her back to them now she readied the bouquet in her hands.

"Here she goes!"

Her throw was quite magnificent in contrast to her appearance. The flowers went high into the air but the fact that she tripped and fell over before her throw seemed to veer the bouquet farther away from centre mass of the group.

Eva looked up now the bouquet was flying straight towards her. She threw her hands out into the air to catch it.

_***Pop***_

'Woah!'

'That was the last memory link right?'

Eva held the bouquet in her hands, momentarily shocked.

'Yeah it was...'

'Congrats, now where did you say the memento was?'

'Clarise has it.'

'Clarise has it?'

'Yes, it's a necklace.'

'How do we get it then?'

'Can't we just pause the memory and take it?'

'That won't work, the pause is quite buggy at the moment, and not only that but the necklace is part of the memory. We probably wouldn't be able to take it.'

"Eva!"

'Huh?'

'What's happening over there?'

'I think it's Clarise, I think she's calling me.'

"Clarise?"

Clarise ran up to Eva.

"Congratulations on winning."

"Uh, thanks."

"Sorry about earlier."

"What do you mean?"

"You're looking for treasures right?"

"Yeah..."

"Then-"

"Clarise!"

The woman from earlier called once again for Clarise.

"Huh?"

"It's time for the garter toss!"

The woman took Clarise gently by the arm and brought her to the dance floor.

"Clari-"

"Okay guys! Now it's time for the garter toss!"

'Hey, Neil? Where did you say you were?'

No response.

'Neil?'

No response.

'Dammit Neil.'

"Eva?"

Eva span around.

"Walter?"

"I just wanted to ask you something."

"Oh... Sure."

'Pause ten meter radius around user Neil Watts.'

It seemed to be more quiet now but the chatter of women still sounded.

'Neil!? What the hell are you doing?'

"Um... Excuse me Eva?"

"Huh? Oh, yes?"

"Sorry, you just seemed distracted by something."

"Oh... It's nothing."

"Okay, well I just wanted to ask how you know Clarise."

"We're friends..."

Walter let out a sigh and nodded.

"Alright, that's okay. Just wanted to know a little about the friends of my wife."

"Uh-"

"Don't worry."

Walter smiled as he walked off, accepting her answer almost instantly.

Eva sighed.

'Neil, what are you doing?'

'Do you mean, what am I going to become?'

'What!?'

'You heard what I said.'

Eva pictured Neil making some sort of cheeky grin.

'What are you going to become?'

'Resume ALL programs.'

'...'

'AWESOME!'

'Where are you?'

'Dance floor.'

_/\-_/\-_/\-_/\-_

A group of men was now clearing the dance floor.

"Congratulations to the winner! Now go find the winner of the bouquet toss!"

'Oh crap...'

'Why?

'Some loser is gonna start following me around now.'

Most of the people had returned to their tables by the time Eva made it to the dance floor.

"What do you mean some loser?"

"Huh?"

Neil stood proud, waving a small, white garter around his index finger.

"... Is this a better outcome?"

He smiled as he walked to Eva.

"Maybe."

"Hmm..."

"What was that?"

"Shall we get onto the memento then?"

"Any suggestions on how to take it?"

"Not at the mome-"

"Eva!"

Clarise was making her way to them rather quickly.

"Eva..."

"Clarise?"

"About earlier."

"Yeah?"

"Here."

Clarise brought her hands to the back of her neck and unhooked the piece of jewellery. Its pretty gems shone lightly under the sun. The silver and cerulean looked truly great.

Eva extended her hand and gently took the necklace.

*Pop*

"Hmph, there it is Neil."

Clarise looked at Eva, confused.

"Neil?"

"This guy over here."

Eva playfully punched Neil in the chest.

"Huh? Uh... Yep, I'm Neil."

He smiled as Clarise looked at him.

"Nice to meet you, Neil."

She too, smiled.

_/\-_

Neil's expression suddenly became serious.

/\-_/\-_

The world flashed blood red for a split second.

"What the hell!?"

"Eva! It's Clarise!"

_/\_

"Neil! What do we do!?"

"If we leave, we lose everything."

"I know that."

The world flashed once again.

"What are you two talking about?"

Eva and Neil looked at Clarise.

"We have to go..."

"But you only just-"

"I'm sorry; we can't stay any longer..."

"Can't you-"

Eva cut her off.

"Neil."

'Pause.'

_/\_

All was silent.

"Dammit."

Neil looked away as Clarise stood still, her face frozen in a look of despair, a tear just escaping her eyes.

Eva turned away as well.

"Can we do anything to save our progression?"

"Yes... But doesn't matter until we find out what's happening with Clarise."

_/\_

"Just do it."

"Alright."

'Save all progress to the back up drives-'

"Shit! Neil!"

"Just a little bit more! The save is almost complete-"

"We've got to pull out now!-"

_/\-_/\-_/\-_/\-_

White, everything was white, all existence void of color, as far as the eye could see. A faint voice could be heard in the distance.

"Rrrroossa..."

_What was that?_

"Lene..."

_A voice?_

"Doc... Tor..."

_It's getting louder._

"EVA!"

_/\-_/\-_/\-_/\-_

As Eva's eyes opened, she was breathing heavily and her head ached. She looked around feeling a little dazed and noticed that she was still sitting in the same chair.

"Dr. Rosalene..."

"Eva..."

Margaret was beside her with a worried look on her face, on her opposite side, Neil had draped himself over a chair. Eva made an effort to try and speak.

"How is Clarise?"

Margaret stood up.

"Clarise is-"

Neil cut her off sharply. His words seemed to push her aside.

"How are _you_ Eva?"

"I-I... I'm fine..."

Neil sat himself in his chair properly and looked Eva in the eyes.

"When we traverse though a patient's memories, our brains are in an almost direct link. We can't just leave-"

Neil made a snapping sound with his fingers.

"_Like that_."

"..."

"We're fine but, just don't take that risk again. If our patient dies... Err passes... Then that's that... There's nothing we can do about it."

Eva wasn't quite sure how to respond.

"... So what do we do now?"

Neil turned away.

"Doctor, how much time has she got?"

"Nine hours. Twelve at most."

"Alright-"

"But if something like this happens again I don't think I'll be able to save her."

He nodded and popped his helmet back on.

"Got it, let's finish this."

"What about Eva? Will she be alright?"

"I'm fine."

Neil nodded in agreement.

"She's strong."

"Wait don't you two need a break? You've been in there for-"

"We don't have much time."

"How about some coffee?"

Eva almost dropped her helmet as Walter spoke. He had been so quiet as he sat next to Clarise, Eva didn't even realize he was there.

"When did-"

Neil refused.

"No thanks, Walter."

"Alright then, good luck."

"Eva?"

She nodded and put on her equipment.

"Link start."

_/\-_/\-_/\-_/\-_

Once again the world formed from brilliant shades of white.

End Chapter IV


	5. Loss & Station

**(A/N: One thing that's making writing these chapters particularly difficult is that (when Neil and Eva are traversing through Clarise's memories) characters will only know what Clarise knows of them. Anything a character says in this story will be something that Clarise remembers them saying, or at least would be dictated by the personality Clarise has assigned to them. Anyway... This chapter will be a little shorter than the last couple I've added. The next one however will tie things together.)**

Take My Hand – Chapter V

To The Moon

_/\-_/\-_/\-_/\-_

"Sorry Neil."

"It's okay."

"I panicked."

"That's something people do when some one is about to die."

Eva took a moment to look around shaking the thought from her head.

"We're back at the wedding."

"Yes, it appears so."

"But..."

Eva looked more carefully to confirm her suspicions.

"... Something's wrong."

"Damn right, where is everybody!?"

"Do we still have the memento and the memory links?"

"Yeah, can't you see them?"

"Nope."

"Gah, let's get out of here."

"Alright activate the memento."

_***Crack***_

*Crack*

*Crack*

*Crack*

*Crack*

_***Pop!***_

_/\-_/\-_/\-_/\-_

Eva and Neil stood in a long dark corridor, with a short fluorescent light fixed into the ceiling in around five meter intervals. There were numbered doors lining the corridor left and right, on each one were small, square shaped windows.

"I really wish the machine would tell us how far we've gone."

"They said they'd be building in that feature soon."

Eva walked up to the door nearest to her.

"How long ago was that?"

"Just over half a year."

"Fantastic."

"... Where are we anyway?"

Eva inspected the room from the window.

"We're in a hospital."

She turned the handle of the door and stepped inside.

"Eva wait-"

Neil followed.

"Ugh, these hospitals bug the hell out of me."

Inside the room was quiet and dimly lit. A thin curtain was letting light in from a thin curtain. The bed was empty and Eva appeared to be searching for something on a table.

"Ah. Bingo."

She turned around and presented to Neil a newspaper.

"It seems that we've gone back a fair bit."

Eva flipped the paper around, showing the front page to Neil.

***TRAIN ACCIDENT SHOCKS THOUSANDS.***

***Yesterday, in the early evening, a train on its way down to the small countryside town of Windsor, exploded and derailed. One man and his daughter were confirmed dead, while another woman suffered severe injuries and is currently being treated at Richmond hospital. No other passengers received injuries other than slight bruising. **

**Authorities are still unsure as to whether or not this was a deliberate attack, further investigation has been scheduled. Witnesses say one of the rear carriages suddenly burst into flames, stating that the burst was devastating enough to throw the train of the rails. **

**Others say the heard an incredibly loud explosion and suddenly felt their carriages being thrown of course.**

**At this current moment there has been nothing further to report.***

"You know what that means, right Neil?"

"Yeah."

"We should go find them. Take the left side of the corridor. I've got the right."

They began their way down, peeking in at every door they passed. At the end of the hallway Eva noticed that one of the windows was emanating light. All the doors she had passed so far had either patients sleeping or simply no patients at all, she began to walk, skipping a around a dozen.

Neil looked strangely at her.

"Hey, you're missing a few."

Eva continued on ignoring Neil. She listened more carefully as she got closer to the door. Quiet chatter could be heard.

"Neil, I think I've found them."

Eva approached carefully.

"Can you disable visibility?"

'Disable users Eva Rosalene and Neil Watts program visibility.'

Eva looked through the window and saw a woman lying on the bed. Beside her was girl probably in her late teens.

"Come over here and enable pause."

He walked behind Eva.

'Pause.'

They entered and stood in one of the empty corners of the room. The room's windows were opened and yellow tinged light was on. The bed was in the centre of the room.

"Is that her mother?"

On the bed laid a woman that could only be in her early 40's. Kneeling beside her was a much younger Clarise. Eva nodded towards Neil.

'Reset and Resume all programs.'

Clarise was now standing by the bed.

"Mother, how are you feeling?"

She placed her hand over her mother's forehead, waving away the hairs of her long fringe. Like Clarise she too had bright golden hair, though hers was just a tone lighter.

"I'm alright dear. I'll be fine."

Her voice was frail and unconvincing.

"What have the doctors said?"

Clarise's mother brought up her own hand and placed it gently over Clarise's.

"What they've said doesn't matter. I'm fine."

She brought her hand down to her neck, removing the brilliant piece of jewelry Eva and Neil saw earlier. She handed it to Clarise.

"Take this."

"Why? You'll need it. You said you were going to be fine."

She extended her arm further.

"Yes, I'll be fine and I'll be going soon but-"

"But..?"

"But where I am leaving to..."

She took a deep breath, she seemed to struggle to bring out the next few words.

"... I will not be needing this... You know that better than I do."

"..."

Clarise took the necklace into the palms of her hands as if it were the most precious thing on Earth. Her mother's arm dropped lifelessly back onto the bed.

"Clarise, darling..."

She turned to Clarise momentarily and closed her eyes.

"... I want you to look after the house."

Clarise sank down to her knees.

"What..?"

"You're eighteen... You've finished school. There's even enough money in the bank for you to not have to work."

Clarise laid her head on her mother's chest.

"Please don't go... I'll be all alone."

"No you won't, I'll be with you as long as you have that necklace."

A tear escaped from Clarise's eye.

"A necklace can't be my mother."

"So that's why I want you move on and live a new life with that boy."

"W-Walter?"

"You love him don't you?"

"Yes..."

"And... He loves... You?"

"Yes, I'm sure of it."

"Then.. Everything will be alright..."

"How can you be so sure of that!?"

"Not now, dear. I'm... Tired."

"No, wait!"

"..."

"Mother!"

Clarise began to cry.

'That's...'

'... I know.'

A long terrible note sounded from the monitors surrounding Clarise and her mother. Foot steps could be heard out side. Suddenly the door burst open and a man in crutches holding a bag of take away containers came in.

"Clarise!?"

She continued to cry.

"Oh God!"

He dropped the containers and food spilled out of them into the plastic bags. Slowly he made his way to the bed.

"Mrs. Phillips..."

He dropped his crutches to his side and painfully made it onto his knees.

"Oh God... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

Clarise's tears seemed momentarily stopped.

"Walter... She's gone."

"I'm sorry..."

Walter crawled his way around the bed and wrapped his arms around Clarise. She stayed still even as Walter tried to comfort her.

***Pop***

***Pop***

'That's two-'

***Pop***

***Pop***

***Pop***

'... Okay, now five...'

'Great we have all the memory links.'

'I suppose it's the necklace again.'

'What?'

'The necklace is the memento.'

'Right.'

Eva glanced at the blue gems sitting in he hands of Clarise.

"Clarise?"

She didn't move, quietly she cried away into the chest of her mother.

"Clarise..?"

Walter spun her around as gently as he could. She dropped the necklace onto the bed.

"Clarise, I love you and I will always be there for you."

Her golden hair was wet tears, her face was a little red. She rubbed the tears from her eyes.

"Thank you, Walter."

She brought her own arms around him and leaned her head on his soldier. Walter kissed her on the cheek as he felt a tear drip onto his coat.

'Pause all programs.'

Eva and Neil both walk forward. Neil brought out his hand and grabbed the necklace.

***Pop***

"Here we are."

"Neil you do it."

"Alright."

_***Crack***_

*Crack*

*Crack*

*Crack*

*Crack*

_***POP!***_

"Eva, you don't think we should stay here longer?"

"No, I don't."

"Hmph..."

_/\-_/\-_/\-_/\-_

The sun was high sky. Shining brightly upon the people. Eva used her hand to cover her face from the sun.

'Maybe a little to brightly.'

'Huh?'

'Nothing.'

They were in one of many platforms at a relatively large train station. There were people scrambling everywhere, trying to reach their trains in time.

"Uh, how the hell are we going to find Clarise here!?"

"No clue-"

A small, supposedly young girl smashed into Neil's stomach, knocking him over. It took a fe moments for the event to register in Eva's mind.

"Owwie~"

The girl had long blonde hair tied in to a cute ponytail. She wore jean shorts and had a simple white shirt.

*Pop*

She sat up while on Neil and rubbed the area on her head that she used to hit him with. Eva stated at the two confused.

"Clarise!?"

Neil attempted to sit up.

"We've skipped SOME things."

"Haven't we?"

"Why did you jump in front of me mister!?"

The girl looked upset as she jabbed Neil in face with her less than lethal fingers.

"No, I think you just ran in to me."

"Then why didn't you dodge?"

"How could I have-"

"Claire!"

A voice from a few meters away silenced the two.

"Claire! What are you doing!?"

Eva and Neil thought in tandem.

'Huh?'

'Huh?'

The person who called out came into sight. A slim figure that appeared young, she was undeniably pretty. She had her long golden hair styled in a ponytail similar to the girl before them and wore a long dress with a sleeveless shirt.

'Clarise?'

'Clarise!?'

Eva and Neil were awestruck. Neil seeming to be slightly more bewildered.

"Ow!"

Claire poked Neil in the face once again, breaking him out of his trance.

Clarise walked up to them and took Claire by the hand.

"This guy jumped in front of me when I was running away!"

"I'm sure it was an accident."

Clarise brought Claire to her side and faced Neil sincerely.

"I'm sorry about this, sir."

Neil waved his hands in the air and shook his head.

"No, no it's alright."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

Neil stood up and dusted off his coat.

'Neil disable visibility-'

"Alright then... Good bye."

Clarise turned around and walked away with her arm around Claire.

'Neil?'

'Yep... Disable users Eva Rosalene and Neil Watts program visibility.'

'Isn't there are shorter way of saying that?'

'Not to my knowledge.'

'... You don't have any knowledge.'

'Whatever...'

Eva began to follow Clarise.

'Well we've gotten the first memory link. Let's follow them.'

_/\-_/\-_/\-_/\-_

"Geez, where'd they go?"

Eva caught up to Neil.

"Like I'd know. I asked _you _to look out for them."

"Yeah well they ran off."

"Why didn't you pause?"

"Hmm... That would actually be a good idea."

"Ack! Where the hell did you go!?"

Eva spun around to try and catch just a glimpse of their targets. There were people crowded together in every direction. It was noisy, Eva couldn't even think straight.

"Neil, can we get out of this crowd."

Eva said this as more of a statement rather than a question and dragged Neil into open space.

"Woah-"

Eva got several, virtual breaths.

"Neil this is getting depress-"

"Claire!?"

They were standing in the middle of the platform where the least of the people were. There, there was also a set of stairs that led to the next floor, at it's base stood a concerned Clarise, peering into the crowds.

"Wow..."

"Yeah, no wonder we couldn't find her, she's been chasing around Claire all this times."

"... I wonder what happened..."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"... I mean, I wonder what happens to Claire."

Neil looked at Eva with concern and turned back to Clarise.

"We'll find out..."

"..."

"... But we're here to change that for Clarise, I guess you don't have to worry."

Neil walked up to Clarise still invisible. She had say down and seemed to have given up and then muttered something to herself about Claire. As Neil got closer he noticed a group of four men, three of them appeared to be middle aged and the other seemed to be only in his early twenties.

"Hey, Walta mate, you think you're up for it?"

Another man spoke with a sick grin.

"Yeah, d'you think you can pull off, rookie?"

The youngest responded coolly.

"Boys, boys. I've got the situation under control."

The first man spoke again.

"Do you now?-"

The second man cut in.

"You know what's at stake pal?"

A new, deep and threatening voice joined in the conversation. It was the third man who had kept silent.

"A multi-million dollar pay load. That's what."

The three other men focused on him.

"Listen you, you are being trusted by the _entire _organization, to take out the-"

A train rode past the platform, Neil wasn't able to hear what the man had said.

'Gah! What the hell.'

"You got that?"

The youngest man replied again, though this time with not nearly as much confidence.

"Yeah..."

'Neil, what's going on over there?'

'I'm not really sure, but Clarise has managed to accidentally eavesdrop on something big.'

'_Something big?_'

'I don't know, just get over here and listen.'

The man continued.

"Right, so we know what our two, main targets look like, but apparently they also have two da-"

Another train screeched along the tracks.

'See what I'm dealing with here?'

'Isn't there a way to amplify what they said?'

'No, unfortunately not. We can only hear what Clarise hears. We ARE travelling through her memories.'

The man was still talking.

"So, it would be best if you could take them out as well. That way there will be no loose ends. Understood?"

"But I don't want to ki-"

"_Think of the money you blasted moron._"

He sighed his response.

"Right..."

"I'll leave the trigger with you, when you get the signal..."

"... Pull it."

"Good... Alright boys, let's go."

The youngest was left behind as the others walked away. He sighed as he turned around and began to walk. He didn't notice Clarise sitting on the steps-

"Ow! Shi-"

"Ugh!"

The man tripped over Clarise's legs and fell face first into the ground.

"Argh... F-"

The man got up and turned around so suddenly, like he was going to grab Claise but as he saw her, any anger in his face seemed to dissipate.

"I'm sorry mister."

Clarise was rubbing her legs as if they were a little bit sore. The man seemed to pick this up.

"No, no... I'm sorry... I should have been looking."

He smiled to her and walked off.

"Neil... Was that..?"

"I'm not sure... But it looks like him."

"... What were they speaking about? That group I mean."

"It sounded like they were planning to pull off some sort of heist."

"... _And_... He had something to do with it?"

"That's what it looks like..."

Eva sighed as she saw Clarise stand up and walk away.

"... This suddenly got very depressing."

_/\-_/\-_/\-_/\-_

End Chapter V


End file.
